A woman stands in the middle of the rubble that is left behind after the demolition drive
For the past one day, Anil has been looking for his belongings in the rubble after his house was razed to the ground in a demolition drive carried out by the Delhi Development Authority on December 6 in Khirki Extension, near south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.
Since the drive, he and his mother have been living in the same rubble.
“Around 60-70 police personnel came along with officials and a bulldozer. They started felling our homes and our two shops adjacent to them,” alleged the 28-year-old graduate, whose family has been living in Khirki Extension since 1970.
He repeatedly requested them to show the evacuation notice but “authorities did not pay any heed to it”. “Instead, the police officials started beating me and my brother,” he added, showing the bruises on his hand and chest.
The demolition drive carried out by DDA followed a court order over dispute between the slum dwellers and nearby locals.
It has now rendered around 30 dwellers, including six children, homeless.
Anil’s mother Chandravati, who spent the entire night in open sky amid the rubble alleged, “We were not given any kind of notice or even verbal intimation. When my two children objected to it, they started beating them. They did not even let us record it on the mobile camera. When I objected, the [women] police even started beating me.”
Authorities have also demolished their ice shop. “How will I sustain my family,” asked the 50-year-old women, pointing towards her shop, which is now part of the rubble.
“The 40-odd people rendered homeless by the recent demolition drive have nowhere to go. They are collecting their belongings. The demolition drive was carried out in a brutal manner,” said Roshni Ross, member of Delhi-based student wing ‘Collective’.
“We have sent our children to relatives. They have their exams going on. But we will live here till we get some legal recourse,” Anil added.
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